First thoughts on Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard from the Oilers vs. Flames rookie game

MATT SAVOIE WAS THE BEST PLAYER ON THE ICE

First thing I want to say is that I’m excited to see what Matt Savoie can do with an opportunity to stick at the NHL level. I know he got into four games last season, but I want to see what he can do if given the chance to play more than the 10 to 13 minutes he had at a very strange point in the Oilers’ season. The kid has hands, he has wheels, and he seems to have the smarts to play and succeed at the NHL level. I’m also saying that based mostly on vibes and what I’ve read. It’s not a lot, but I’m bullish.

The first thing I noticed was how quickly he can dart in and out of traffic. Putting aside for a moment that he was easily the best player on the ice, his skating and edgework are fantastic, and there were more than a few times when he used his legs to dash past a Calgary defender. It didn’t take him long to find lanes and dart toward or through them en route to an offensive chance or loose puck. He was a dog out there, which was exactly what I hoped to see from him in a game like that. He should look better than everyone else on the ice when we’re expecting him to help at the NHL level.

At the end of the day, Savoie showed me what I wanted to see within his first few shifts. He was miles better than the rest of the players, and I would have even been fine if the coaching staff didn’t play him beyond that. Would it have been nice to see him wrap up the hat trick or something outrageous? Sure. But this was one of those nights where I’m very happy with the two goals and flashes of brilliance he displayed, and couldn’t care less about the scoreboard. I’d also bet all of Gregor’s money that he would have been able to do more had the Oilers’ weaker defensive group not been caved in as often as they were.

TLDR: Baggedmilk likey.

WELCOME TO EDMONTON, ISAAC HOWARD

I was excited to watch Ike Howard for the first time. Yeah, I’ve watched the highlights, read the scouting reports, and consumed everything I could, but this was the first time I would ever watch him play hockey. And since he was going up against a bunch of kids and prospects that are his age, I was expecting to find out why we call him the Ice Man. I wanted to know why the Oilers went out and grabbed this kid, and whether a first impression would be enough for me to fall in love. It’s been a minute since a fresh prospect has tickled the itch, you know?

While Howard wasn’t as immediately noticeable as Savoie, he did start to pick up steam when the Oilers went on the power play. Howard dished the puck well and was more than willing to shoot any time the opportunity arose. And speaking of his shot, it’s a beauty. Kid can rip the pill. But even when he didn’t have clear lanes to the net, he found ways to put pucks on the goaltender, including an attempt from near the goal line that nearly rung in off the goalie’s helmet. We’ve seen McDavid score plenty of goals with that exact strategy, so seeing Howard have the balls to give it a go gave us a nice glimpse of where his instincts are at.

As someone who constantly asks the Oilers to shoot from the parking lot, watching Howard’s shoot-first mentality was very refreshing. That said, if I’m going to be fair, I did think there were plenty of stretches where he blended into the crowd. As much as I’ll give the Flames’ rookies credit — Calgary’s prospect pool is much deeper than ours overall — I was expecting more razzle dazzle of some variety from Howard. Not that I’m doubting the kid after a single game — it’s going to take a minute for him to get settled and sorted — but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting a little bit more against NHL hopefuls.

TLDR: Our boy likes to shoot.

THE STREAM…

As much as I was excited to watch the rookie game — I really was — I couldn’t help but laugh at how much trouble they were having early on with the stream on Oilers+. The game started without any play-by-play before Cam Moon and Bob Stauffer were eventually piped in, and then they lost the feed in the back half of the first period and ended up replacing it with warmup footage for some reason. I thought it was funny, but it did make it quite a bit more difficult to do my job. Classic pre-season glitches and bugs to work out, you know? We are so back.